Chopping or cutting boards used to prepare vegetables, meats, and so forth, are an indispensable utensil in kitchens the world over. A variety of cutting boards and cutting board accessories are known in the prior art, for example, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 8,360,407 (“the '407 patent”), issued to Joseph Kent, which discloses a cutting board having a planar cutting surface. Though common in the prior art for cutting boards, planar boards that lie flat on a counter or table suffer from the tendency of waste and liquids to remain on the cutting board during use and/or to drip off the board onto the counter, table-top, or floor, creating a messy and/or unsanitary situation. For example, in the case of raw meat, it is highly desirable that the raw meat juices be kept away from the meat and other food being prepared at the same time. With traditional cutting boards, however, those juices often remain on the cutting board during food preparation and/or drip off the sides where they are likely to contaminate other food.
The '407 patent also discloses a waste receptacle, which is a separate unit from the cutting board, and which can be attached to or detached from the cutting board. Drawbacks of chopping boards such as that disclosed in the '407 patent with discrete accessory elements include the difficulty of cleaning discrete elements, the greater likelihood that or more accessory elements will malfunction, and the greater likelihood that the portions of the device will be lost or misplaced.
Another example of cutting boards in the prior art can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,251,357 (“the '357 patent”) issued to Keith Young, which discloses an apparatus for treating food substances. The '357 patent also discloses a waste receptacle that can be used with the cutting board Like the '407 patent, the '357 patent discloses a multi-piece apparatus, and therefore suffers from some of the same drawbacks identified above.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,208 (“the '208 patent”) issued to William Benjamin discloses a cutting board with separate tray for receiving waste. When assembled the tray is accessed through an opening or cut-out in the chopping board. Like some of the other prior art, the '208 patent suffers from the disadvantages of using a planar, rather than slanted device, the latter of which can provide automatic liquid run-off away from food and the food preparation surfaces. Moreover, practicing the device of the '208 patent requires reducing the surface area available for chopping in order to provide the cutting board with the opening or cut-out. In addition, the receptacle of the '208 patent (which lies directly underneath the chopping surface) effectively raises the height of the chopping surface considerably above the height of the work surface, creating an awkward environment for cutting or chopping in which it is difficult or impossible for the user to rest any part of his hands or arms on the work surface during food preparation.
In addition to addressing the drawbacks identified above with respect to the prior art, there is a need to provide a chopping board accessory that can accommodate multiple chopping boards simultaneously during use. It is often desirable to keep certain foods separate from other foods during food preparation. For example, it is commonly accepted that meat, poultry, and fish should be kept separate from vegetables and fruits during preparation to avoid cross-contamination, and that these types of foods should be prepared on separate cutting boards. Likewise, sharp foods such as onions and garlic are often kept separate from other foods and chopped on a separate cutting board, to avoid transferring their strong flavors to other foods such as fruits. Thus, there is a need for a chopping board accessory that facilitates waste disposal and liquid run-off from multiple chopping boards or surfaces at the same time.
Accordingly, there is a need to improve the utility, convenience, efficiency, and effectiveness of chopping board accessories.